


Scar Tissue

by GraphDesino



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Blood, Gen, Hallucinations, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-04 22:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraphDesino/pseuds/GraphDesino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Peace Walker-era Big Boss starts to crack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scar Tissue

It had been years since he’d seen her last. A decade, maybe? He’d lost count. Kaz and the others all thought his ‘fits’ had passed long before that, anyway. And they had bigger problems now. 

Her reappearance was so sudden. It was the stress of running a nation on the brink. It had to be. That would fray anyone’s nerves, wouldn’t it? He’d embraced his own anxieties; the only difference between caution and paranoia, so far as he was concerned, was how many people wanted you dead. He drank fear, breathed worry, slept in insomnia’s burning bed. He had to. He should be used to it by now.

And now he felt her hand on his shoulder. Or thought he did.

“I thought I told you,” he snarled, tearing her fingers away. “Leave me alone.”

“Look at me, Jack.”

Despite himself, he did. She looked even worse this time. Blonde hair matted with sweat, stringy and clumped. Eyes hollowed-out, veiny, piercing. Skin blue-tinted, morbidly pale, that last thin dusting of dirt still staining her jumpsuit. Her whole body thinner, bonier -- still lovely, lovely beyond words, but a cheap imitation of its once vibrant self.

And that one gruesome wound. Perfectly placed in the center of her forehead, still dripping and oozing after all this time. God, why hadn’t he used a smaller round?

He turned away as soon as he met her gaze, nauseated, and stormed to his feet, boots thunking audibly against the compound floor.

“Why are you here?” he spat, pacing. “Why did you come back?”

“Because I can’t watch you do this to yourself.” He could feel her noiseless footsteps behind him, her voice unwavering, her gaze unblinking. He turned when he reached the end of his quarters; she was there, waiting.

“You’ve strayed so far,” she added, when he was forced to face her again. Before he could avert himself.

“Good,” he rebuked venomously. “I don’t need you anymore.”

“It’s like you’re fading away. Buried under scar tissue.”

“You’re wrong.” He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Everything is under control.”

“Look at yourself.”

He felt a hand on his cheek, and his eyes snapped open, face contorting with shock. She was close enough to hear his breathing, see the goosebumps prickling his flesh. He staggered back, swatting at her, and obligingly she left him, the touch of her fingertips still tingling over his scars.

“You’ve suffered so much already,” she whispered. The longer those eyes stared at him, the sicker he felt. His knees started to buckle. “You’ve lost sight of the truth.”

“And what truth is that?” he shouted aloud, his trembling hands balling into fists. “You have nothing left for me. You said it yourself.”

“That’s right.” Her expression was pained with sorrow, crusted blood still lining the creases of her face. “I thought you understood.”

“Understood what?”

“When to forgive. When to stop.” She blinked, a fresh droplet of crimson dribbling down the side of her nose. Like a tear. She reached out, as if offering him a hand to steady him. He scrambled away, the wall at his back stopping him.

“Coward,” he roared, curling his lip, his voice cracking severely. His knees crumpled beneath him, and as he fell, he could make out voices outside. Kaz’s familiar bark. Frantic footsteps nearing his quarters. She stood there, silently.

“You abandoned me,” he mumbled, looking up at her. “That’s all you did.”

A moment later, his door whipped open, Kaz and a night watch team barreling through. A strange silence settled over them. He blinked; she was gone.

“We heard shouting, Boss,” Kaz started, as the other men helped him up. “Everything okay?” His brow was knitted with familiar concern.

“Yeah, Kaz.” Inhale, exhale. “I’m fine.”


End file.
